The impact of noise and topology on opinion dynamics in social networks

We investigate the impact of noise and topology on opinion diversity in social networks. We do so by extending well-established models of opinion dynamics to a stochastic setting where agents are subject both to assimilative forces by their local social interactions, as well as to idiosyncratic factors preventing their population from reaching consensus. We model the latter to account for both scenarios where noise is entirely exogenous to peer influence and cases where it is instead endogenous, arising from the agents' desire to maintain some uniqueness in their opinions. We derive a general analytical expression for opinion diversity, which holds for any network and depends on the network's topology through its spectral properties alone. Using this expression, we find that opinion diversity decreases as communities and clusters are broken down. We test our predictions against data describing empirical influence networks between major news outlets and find that incorporating our measure in linear models for the sentiment expressed by such sources on a variety of topics yields a notable improvement in terms of explanatory power

The Bounded Confidence Model Of Opinion Dynamics

The bounded confidence model of opinion dynamics, introduced by Deffuant et al, is a stochastic model for the evolution of continuous-valued opinions within a finite group of peers. We prove that, as time goes to infinity, the opinions evolve globally into a random set of clusters too far apart to interact, and thereafter all opinions in every cluster converge to their barycenter. We then prove a mean-field limit result, propagation of chaos: as the number of peers goes to infinity in adequately started systems and time is rescaled accordingly, the opinion processes converge to i.i.d. nonlinear Markov (or McKean-Vlasov) processes; the limit opinion processes evolves as if under the influence of opinions drawn from its own instantaneous law, which are the unique solution of a nonlinear integro-differential equation of Kac type. This implies that the (random) empirical distribution processes converges to this (deterministic) solution. We then prove that, as time goes to infinity, this solution converges to a law concentrated on isolated opinions too far apart to interact, and identify sufficient conditions for the limit not to depend on the initial condition, and to be concentrated at a single opinion. Finally, we prove that if the equation has an initial condition with a density, then its solution has a density at all times, develop a numerical scheme for the corresponding functional equation, and show numerically that bifurcations may occur.Comment: 43 pages, 7 figure

The Support to Improve Self Efficacy and Healing of Drugs Addict

Appropriate counseling and education can be adopted to achieve a change in attitude, knowledge and perception. Still there is a wrong perception of a given intervention. Peer support through a process of social learning, the process of growing understanding of how to process information from experience, observational include: attention (attention), given (retention), reproduction of motion (reproduction), motivation (motivation), and communication. The purpose of this study was to analyze resident self-efficacy to regardless of drug addiction through family support. This study employed qualitative approach with case study design. Subjects in this study were residents, ex drugs user, peer support, and resident family. The results showed that peer support from fellow residents and the support of the major on duty (MOD) very meaningful and helpful for resident in the healing process

When Do Opponents of Gay Rights Mobilize? Explaining Political Participation in Times of Backlash against Liberalism

Existing research suggests that supporters of gay rights have outmobilized their opponents, leading to policy changes in advanced industrialized democracies. At the same time, we observe the diffusion of state-sponsored homophobia in many parts of the world. The emergence of gay rights as a salient political issue in global politics leads us to ask, “Who is empowered to be politically active in various societies?” What current research misses is a comparison of levels of participation (voting and protesting) between states that make stronger and weaker appeals to homophobia. Voters face contrasting appeals from politicians in favor of and against gay rights globally. In an analysis of survey data from Europe and Latin America, we argue that the alignment between the norms of sexuality a state promotes and an individual’s personal attitudes on sexuality increases felt political efficacy. We find that individuals who are tolerant of homosexuality are more likely to participate in states with gay-friendly policies in comparison with intolerant individuals. The reverse also holds: individuals with low education levels that are intolerant of homosexuality are more likely to participate in states espousing political homophobia

Mobilizing Resources for the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People: Challenges and Opportunities

Funding for work to advance the human rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) issues across the globe is surprisingly scarce. Approximately $10 million USD was spent in total on LGBT issues in the Global South and East in 2005, compared to$336 million to support 48 LGBT rights organizations based only in the United States in the same year. Ninety-three percent of funders who do not currently support LGBT human rights work in the Global South and East acknowledge the human rights community's responsibility to help advance it. This report is intended to help mobilize additional funding for LGBT human rights work by identifying obstacles to increased funding among human rights funders, exploring the implications of those obstacles and surfacing approaches to mitigate or overcome them

Dopamine transporter and transmission of psychopathological risk. A review of gene-environment interplay

Research underlines that intergenerational transmission of psychopathological risk results from a complex interplay of genetic and environmental risk factors which predispose child to develop emotionalbehavioral problems. Mechanisms of transmission are poorly understood, but few studies have focused on the role played by dopamine transporter (DAT) gene. This review aims to examine mediating mechanism of DAT genotype-environmental interaction (GxE), DAT genotype-environmental correlation (rGE), and methylation status involved in transmission of psychopathological risk. The review of literature was made through researches in university libraries on paper material, and telematics systems research. Studies have evidenced that DAT is implicated in intergenerational transmission of psychopathological risk. Results are mixed regarding its genetic variants, but mechanisms through which this gene can affect both quality of parenting and child development are partially established. Only few studies have examined methylation mechanisms that can be implicated. Findings suggest to involve an improved focus on DAT genotypes, methylation status associated, and their relationship with environment to better understanding child’s vulnerability and resilience following exposure to contextual risk factors associated with parental psychopathological symptoms

A game theoretic model for digital identity and trust in online communities

Digital identity and trust management mechanisms play an important role on the Internet. They help users make decisions on trustworthiness of digital identities in online communities or ecommerce environments, which have significant security consequences. This work aims to contribute to construction of an analytical foundation for digital identity and trust by adopting a quantitative approach. A game theoretic model is developed to quantify community effects and other factors in trust decisions. The model captures factors such as peer pressure and personality traits. The existence and uniqueness of a Nash equilibrium solution is studied and shown for the trust game defined. In addition, synchronous and asynchronous update algorithms are shown to converge to the Nash equilibrium solution. A numerical analysis is provided for a number of scenarios that illustrate the interplay between user behavior and community effects